Supreme Court candidate barred, removed from GOP State Fair booth

Supreme Court candidate Michelle MacDonald vowed to return to the Minnesota Republican Party's State Fair booth Thursday after she was banned and ordered by security to leave.

"We may as well look for justice on a stick because we can't find it here!" MacDonald told a handful of supporters as she left the booth following a 10-minute confrontation with a security guard that began as soon as she showed up.

MacDonald, a family law attorney, was endorsed at the party's state convention in May to run against Justice David Lillehaug. She drew ire from party leaders who said most delegates were not aware of a drunken driving charge at the time of endorsement. MacDonald stands trial next month in Dakota County.

This week, the party's executive committee revised its State Fair Policy to restrict access to candidates with pending criminal cases, and moved to bar MacDonald from the booth. MacDonald, who said she was notified Wednesday of the resolution, showed up anyway.

After a GOP staffer briefly pleaded with her to leave, a pair of plain-clothed "conflict resolution experts" intervened.

"I'm an endorsed candidate," she said while filming them with her camera.
"I was supported by the people at the Republican convention. The people want this."

MacDonald eventually left, urging State Party chair Keith Downey to resign. Supporters then gathered outside the booth to plot their next move.

A Duluth native who just barely lost Virginia's GOP gubernatorial primary said that politicians have not gone far enough in condemning the left for violence during a rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville. "I think that the left is going to try to use this as an excuse to crack down on conservative free speech," said Corey Stewart. "I think they're going to try to use this as an excuse to remove more historical monuments."